Open-eye needle.



J. A. LEIGHTON. OPEN EYE NEEDLE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 22, 1912.

Patented Mar. 4, 1913.

WITNESSES INVENTOR 7 fir/zes JQLZQe/gh/'n I r I v ,By o ey UNITED STATES PATENT orator.

JAMES A. LEIGHTON, F ESTHERWOOD, LOUISIANA.

Specification or Letters rat cut. Application filed-Tuly 22, 1918. Serial No. 710,781.

OPEN-EYE mmnmn.

Patented Mar. 4., 1913.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES A. LEIGHTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Estherwood, in the parish of Acadia and State of Louisiana, have invented certain.

is provided at its head or butt end with ane e into which the thread or-cord is entered t rou h a restricted passage of such width that t e thread or cord must be forcedtherethrough into the eye whereby it is practically lmpossible for the thread to leave the eye. At the end of the passage opposite from the eye is an entrance opening into which the thread or cord is passed through a mouth that consists of overlapping lip members normally spaced apart for admitting the thread or cord. In this entrance opening is arranged a knife edge which is dispgsed at the opposite side from the mouth, and the opening is of such size that the thread or cord can be passed into the opening without danger of being severed by the knife edge. Owing to the restricted cross-section of the passage between the opening and the eye ofthe needle, the thread cannot pass of its own accord out of the eye and into the opening where it might accidentally be severed by the knife edge, but the thread or cord can be easily drawn out of the eye and into contact with the knife edge for the purpose of cutting the thread or cord and at the same timethe needle can be unthreaded without being severed, when such is desired. The passage between the.

entrance openin and eye iskformed by a hump on one si e of the needle and a pair of humps on the other side arranged in staggered relation to the single hump and suitably spaoed therefrom. The single hump drops abruptly at the eye to form a shoulder which tends to prevent the thread or cord from entering the inlet or outlet passage communicating with the eye in case the needle should drop from the hand of the operator.

A' needle of this construction is readily threaded and unthreaded, and at the same time enables the thread to be cut whenever deslred without the use of an extra knife, and furthermore the shape of the needle is such that it can be conveniently handled by the user without tearing or otherwise injuring the fingers, and without tearing the burlap or other fabric being sewed.

For a more detailed understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the needle. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the eye portion of the needle showing the manner of threading the same. Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the manner of using the knife edge. Fig. 4 is a sectional View on line 4-4, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 55, Fig. 3.

Similar reference characters are employed to designate corresponding parts throughout the views.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the shank or body of the needle, which at the head or butt portion 2 is more or less oval in form, as shown in Fig. 4, and-tapers therefrom toward the point 3 which is somewhat flattened and curved, as shown in Fig. 1.

llhe eye 4 is close to the butt extremity of the needleand is somewhat larger in size than the gage of the thread or cord intended to be used with the needle. Leading from the eye is a passage 5 which merges into an entrance openin 6 which is located longitudinally inwar 1y from the eye 4, the passage or throat 5 extending more or less lengthwise of the needle. The entrance opening 6 is provided with a mouth 7 which has overlapping lip members 8 and 9 that are permanently spaced apart to admit the thread or cord. The opening 6 is of ample size to accommodate a knife edge 10 which is at the opposite side of the opening 6 from the mouth 7. By this arrangement, the thread or cord can be readily passed into the entrance opening through the mouth, and by way of the passage 5 into the eye 4,

without danger of the thread or cord being brought into contact with the knife edge 10 and severed. The passage or throat 5 is formed by an inwardly extending hump 11 cated at a, Figs. 2 and 5.

disposed at one side of the needle butt or head, and humps l2 and 18 arranged at the opposite side in staggered relation to the hump 11. The hump-bearing portion 14 is connected with the portion 15 by the curved part 16 of the eye, which part 16 is practically non-resilient so that the portions 14 and 15 maintain a fixed relation. That is to say, the portion 14 is not intended to have a spring action. The width ofthe throat or passage 5 is narrower than the gage of the thread or co-rd intended to be used with the needle, so that it is necessary in threading or uhthreading the needle, to force the thread or cord through the passage 5, and in doing so, the thread flattens out as indi- In order to prevent the thread from accidentally passing out of the eye 4 through the throat 5 when the needle drops out of the hands of theuser, the hump 11 abruptly drops at 17 to form a shoulder with which the thread is adapted to engage and thus be prevented from entering the passage 5.

In threading the needle, the thread or cord is preferably looped, as indicated at b, Fig. 2, and passed over the eye end of the needle, thence through the mouth, into and through the opening 6, and through the passage 5, as indicated by the arrows, Fig. 2. After being once entered in the eye, the thread cannot accidentally become disengaged. If the needle is to be unthreaded, the thread is passed out of the eye in a direction just the reverse to that just described, or as indicated, by the upper arrow', Fig. 3. Again, if it is desired to sever the thread, the same is passed out of the eye by following a coprse indicated by the lower arrows shown in Fig. 3; that is to say, the thread I) is passed out of the eye 4, througn the passage 5, and slipped along the hump 11 and brought into engagement with the knife edge 10, and while engaged with the latter, pressure is brought to bear on the thread while it is moved along the knife edge, as indicated by the dotted lines until the thread is severed.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the advantages of the construction and of the method of operation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, and while I have described the principle of operation of the invention, together with the device which 1 now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the device shown is merely illustrative, and that such changes may be made when desired as are within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, is

1. A needle provided with an eye, a constricted passage or throat leading therefrom, an entrance opening communicating with the passage, a mouth through which the thread is passed into the opening, and a knife edge formed in the opening at a point spaced from the mouth whereby the thread can pass from the mouth to the said passage without contacting with the knife edge, said passage being of such width that the thread is prevented from accidentally moving out of the eye and coming into contact with the knife edge.

2. A needle provided with an eye, a passage communicating therewith and formed by a single hump on one sideand a pair of humps on the opposite side spaced apart from the single hump a fixed distance, the portion of the single hump adjacent the eye dropping abruptly to form a shoulder, an opening communicating with the passage, a mouth at the side of the needle opposite from the side having the single hump and through which the thread is entered in the opening, and a knife edge arranged in the opening on the side contiguous with the single hump. said passage between the opening and eye being constricted to prevent the thread from accidentally passing into the opening from the eye.

3. A needle having a point at one end and an eye at the other, an opening, a cutter in the opening, and a passage of restricted cross-section between the eye and opening for preventing the thread from moving out of the eye and into engagement with the cutter except by the guidance of the user.

- In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES A. LEIGHTON.

Witnesses:

A. C. HOEFPANIN, WM. WRIGHT. 

